Vallejo 'Gone Girl' kidnapping suspect tied to home invasions

VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- The couple at the center of the Vallejo "Gone Girl" kidnapping is trying to get on with their lives now that a Harvard-educated lawyer has been charged in the abduction that was once thought a hoax.

The suspect, 38-year-old Matthew Muller from Orangevale, Calif., finally has a potential court date. And now local authorities are digging into whether he may have been behind several home invasions on the Peninsula and in the South Bay.

Muller is currently being held in the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. In a few weeks, he'll be transferred to federal authorities in Sacramento. He's expected to be in court on August 27.

The suspect faces a slew of felony charges, including kidnapping, burglary, and attempted robbery for two cases he's now tied to in Vallejo and Dublin.

Authorities are now trying to determine if he's behind two home invasions in Palo Alto and Mountain View six years ago.

The kidnapping charge comes after Vallejo police discounted the story by Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn.

Quinn reported that kidnappers broke into the couple's home on March 23, abducted Huskins and demanded $8,500. His lawyers have said he awoke to a bright light in his face, and two kidnappers bound and drugged him.

Huskins, 29, turned up safe two days later in her hometown of Huntington Beach, where she says she was dropped off. She showed up hours before the ransom was due.

Attorneys for victims spoke on Good Morning America on Tuesday. They say their clients are slowly trying to get their life back.

"She feels a tremendous sense of relief," said Huskins' attorney Douglas Rappaport. "But it doesn't change fact that she can't feel safe in her own home, that she's lost her dignity, that she's been publicly shamed, and now she needs to go through court process as a victim of a serious crime."

Huskins says she was tied up, held for ransom, and sexually assaulted before she was let go.

Vallejo police have since declined to comment on the case other than to say they continue to investigate. Calls to the agency were not returned.

Investigators haven't said if Muller is indeed the person who sent a string of bizarre emails to San Francisco Chronicle and Rappaport in March.

"To quote the email, 'We are deeply ashamed and regretful,'" said the attorney.

According to Rappaport, the kidnappers claimed to be car thieves and that Huskins was not the intended target.

Attorneys for the victims believe there are more suspects in Huskins' case

"It has been horrible nightmare hoping that they can start doing their job now, the police, and actually I think both of us believe that there are other people out there." said Quinn's attorney Dan Russo.

Attorneys for the victims say they are not sure whether their clients will file a civil lawsuit.

People who believe they are victims of a similar crime are urged to call the FBI.

Muller told authorities he's a former U.S. Marine suffering from PTSD. His attorney Thomas Johnson says the 38-year-old's mental history will be brought up in court.

"It is true what they have contained in the complaint that he suffers from a bipolar disorder," Johnson said. "Certainly he has history of mental illness and that certainly will be a component of our defense here in Sacramento."

A closer look at Muller's background shows he joined the Marines as a teenager and served four years until 1999. He attended Harvard Law School and graduated in 2012.

He worked as an immigration attorney in San Francisco until his license was suspended in January for alleged misconduct, including lying to a client and taking their money. He's scheduled to be disbarred next Sunday.

Muller was arrested on June 29 in South Lake Tahoe for a June 5 home invasion in Dublin.

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